Filmax (Spain)

Logo descriptions by bigladiesman and Colorband
Logo captures by Eric S.
Video captures courtesy of Eric S., dylan fagan, EnormousRat, and Filmax

Background: Founded in 1953 and based in the city of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (neighbouring Barcelona), Filmax is a veteran production and distribution (more than 800 films distributed throughout their history) company, and one of the few Spanish cinema companies that has acquired some international recognition.

Note: Not to be confused with the Mexican film distribution company Filmex.

1st (known) Logo

(1970's?-1991?)

Nicknames: "Filmstrips in Space","Filmax...Presenta", "Filmax Filmstrips"

Logo: On a space background, clusters of stars zoom towards the screen, as a single star shines in the center. As the stars disappear, the text "filmax" zooms in, being made of filmstrips and in yellow. The logo remains still on screen as the last stars clear out.

Variant: A later version exists. The logo is the same, but the text "GRUPO IVEX" in red zooming in with a trial at the end. The logo is also looks transparent in this variant.

FX/SFX: The zooming stars, the zooming logo.

Music/Sounds: An drum roll is heard at first, which is then followed by an bombastic fanfare. Another drum roll occurs, before one final beat and an announcer(possibly an early Romero) saying "Filmax, presenta".

Availability: Extremely rare.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo
(1991?-1996?)

Nicknames: "Un producto... ¡Filmax!", "Zooming Filmax", "Filmax Filmstrips II"

Logo: On a white background, we see the same "filmax" text from the first logo, but refined and in a metallic sheen. When he says "Filmax", the logo quickly zooms in until disappearing. This short logo was a bumper that preceded the trailers for the upcoming attractions from this company.

Trivia: The announcer is Constantino Romero, famed TV/radio journalist and dubbing and stage actor. He was the Spanish voice, between others, of Clint Eastwood, James Earl Jones (Darth Vader and Mufasa included), the T-1000, Nexus 6, Roger Moore's James Bond, Apollo Creed (and Clubber Lang as well), the announcer on Meet the Feebles, and many other characters. He was the Spanish, English, and German-language announcer for the 1992 Olympics opening and closing ceremony as well.

Variant: A later version has appeared on promos for VHS packs. Here the logo is smaller at first, but grows to normal size at a beat. The announcer here is also different, being more lively.

FX/SFX: Just the zooming in.

Music/Sounds: Just the voiceover, and some whooshes at the end.

Availability: Almost extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo
(1991?-1996?)

Nicknames: "Filmstrips in Space II", "Filmax Filmstrips III", "Filmax...Presenta II"

Logo: On a space background, a gold filmstrip zooms in while moving a bit. As it keeps zooming in, it reveals itself as a handwritten "L", which for its part reveals itself to be part of the word "filmax". While the word places itself in the center of the screen, a silver trail zooms in to reveal the words "GRUPO IVEX" in white. A filmstrip is drawn on the "i", dotting it.

FX/SFX: 80s CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An ominous-sounding fanfare with synths and drums, plus Mr. Romero saying "Filmax, presenta..."

Availability: Slightly more common than the previous logo, but still very rare. Spanish VHS tapes with the Ivex label tend to have it.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo
(199? or Early 2000s?-2018)

Nicknames: "Candy Globe", "Filmax...Presenta III"

Logo: On a space background, a blue star shines on and starts moving while leaving a trail, revealing itself to be a comet. The comet moves to the left, while three of the little sparks in its trail move to the right and start writing the word "filmax": one writes almost the entire word, another one dots the "i" and disappears, and the third one completes the x. The two sparks merge together and explode to form three comets: a yellow one, a red one, and a blue one, which rapidly move together towards an earth globe and circle around it. The globe shines, turning white with yellow, red, and blue spiral stripes (resembling a piece of candy) and moves backwards to let the handwritten and shining word "filmax" take its place in the center of the screen. Then the word "PRESENTA" fades in, shining as well.

Variants:

On foreign releases, "INTERNATIONAL" fades in instead of "PRESENTA". There's a variant for Filmax Animation which is described in detail here.
There's are still variants, in were we see the Filmax logo with a metallic look, and below appear "PRESENTA" or "INTERNATIONAL".
On a trailer of Errementari, the logo appear superimposed on a foggy red bckground, with several particles falling.
On REC, the logo is much smaller and completely still, and is shown in the opening credits, only to be interrupted by static.
There is a print version with some copyright info shown on the the NDS game of Donkey Xote.

FX/SFX: Comets forming, shining trails, complex camera angles, and a good-looking globe. A very good CGI logo.

Music/Sounds: Begins with a "bling" sound when the star shines and a fizzing sound when it starts moving. All the while, a nicely rearranged version of the fanfare from the previous logo (with synths, drums, strings, and horns) starts sounding. Wind sounds can be heard when "filmax" is written by the sparks, and a ricochet sound when they merge. Finally we hear the same voiceover from the last logo.

Availability: Very common.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo
(2018-present)

Logo: On a black background with particles, the feet of a man made of string walking on a tightrope appear. The scene cuts to a different view of the man, this time panning across from above, showing the pole the man carries as well as 2 spotlights on the ground. It cuts back to his feet, then back to a panning shot of the man walking across the tightrope (this time showing one of the buildings the man's rope is connected to). It cuts to a medium shot of the front of the man himself, then to a pan-out from above. The scene then cuts to a far shot below the man as the spotlights crisscross. Finally, we cut to the other end of the rope as the scene pans away and the rope writes out the Filmax logo, which is more fluid than before. The rope shines and becomes the Filmax logo.

FX/SFX: The string man walking, the various camera angles we see his trip through; dazzling CGI done by Diestro.

Music/Sounds: A lovely rearranged version of the Filmax fanfare, done by Lucas Vidal. The fanfare is punctuated with various wind noises and creaking sounds as we see the tightrope walker make his journey.

Availability: TBA.

Editor's Note: None.

Filmax (Spain)

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